A conversation with Kelly McGonigal, Stanford health psychologist and lecturer

McGonigal shares her knowledge, spreads joy and builds community wherever she goes, demonstrating the applications of psychological science to personal health and happiness, as well as organizational success and social change.

A leading expert on the mind-body relationship, she is an author; blogger for Psychology Today; senior teacher/consultant for Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE); yoga teacher and yoga-teacher trainer; Zumba, meditation and Stanford Continuing Studies instructor; compassion cultivator; and resident of downtown Palo Alto.

Starting long before she arrived at Stanford to pursue her Ph.D. in 1999, McGonigal has been exploring how people (including herself) can relieve their physical and emotional suffering, as well as bring optimism and compassion into their lives while creating supportive communities.

Her upcoming book -- "The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It" -- explores cutting-edge research on motivation, temptation and addiction, as well as what it takes to make a successful change. The book will be published in January 2012.